April 10th, 2018 Mortgage Industry Update

The Bank of Canada announced on March 7th that it’s overnight lending rate will remain at 1.25%. The prime rate thus remains at 3.45% with most lenders. The 5 year posted rate remains at 5.14%. Almost all fixed rates remain stable without any significant changes.

Additionally this week:
– RBC Report: Buying a house became more affordable in Canada for the first time in more than two years in the last quarter of 2017, but the relief for buyers will likely not last.

– TREB: GTA home sales in March down 39.5% from 2017. Down 17.9% compared with averages over the last 10 years. New sales listings totalled 14,866, representing a 12.4% drop. The low level of homes for sale helped keep prices in check, rising 2.2% compared to February. Average price of a home in the GTA was down 14.2% to $784,558 last month, a decrease from the average of $915,126 in the same month last year. Sales of detached homes in and around Toronto fell 46% in March from the same month a year ago, while the average price fell 17% to $1.01 million.

– RBC poll: One third of Canadians say they are very likely or somewhat likely to buy a home in next 2 years — increase of 7% from last year and the highest level since 2010. 50% of Millennials say they were very or somewhat likely to purchase within the next couple of years.

– RBC President: A “significant” investment exodus to the U.S. is already underway, especially in the energy and clean-technology sectors.

– Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz said the economy will need less monetary stimulus overtime, should it continue to operate “close to potential” and inflation is near target.

– Statistics Canada: The Canadian economy contracted 0.1 per cent in January, hurt by unscheduled maintenance shutdowns in the oilpatch and weakness in the real estate sector following mortgage rule changes.

Stay tuned for the next update!

For any questions and concerns please do not hesitate to call Harpreet Singh The Mortgage King at (416) 795-1919.